Maverick Amazes Me

Last night after walking the dogs, I decided that I would fiddle around with Maverick. It's been more than a week since I've ridden Maverick and I really need to be working with him more. Since I had the farm truck out and Mike had everything set up for me to hook the farm truck to the trailer I thought I'd give it a whirl.

One problem. Well, more like two. The dog kennels were in the way so I couldn't really see where I was going backing up (no I do not use my mirrors). And two, the farm truck turns sharper than my 3/4 ton truck so I had to climb in and out a dozen times before I gave up trying to hook the farm truck up.

I decided that I really wanted to work Maverick on loading so I trotted on over and pulled my truck out and hooked up on the third try. It normally takes me three times to get hooked up but I'm used to that!

I haltered Maverick up and he surprised me (like he does EVERY time). I opened the trailer door and figured he'd get nervous... nope! I stepped into the trailer and asked him to stand next to it. I really didn't figure he would load but wanted him to get used to being next to it.

Maverick sniffed the floor (like all the horses do at Borderlands) and he hopped right in! That's right!!! He walked right in. He didn't jump, lunge, or bolt in. He stepped in like he'd loaded and unloaded all his life. This is only his fifth time he'd ever been in a trailer.

So we loaded and unloaded a dozen or so times. I made him go all the way to the front, stop, turn around, back up, go forward, stop at the edge, and walk out. He did start taking to jumping out but I think I fixed that already.

We even worked on loading with the middle divider in. I did only load him twice with the middle divider. I really didn't want to push my luck and figured I'd just work him with the full trailer instead. I was still totally impressed!

Maverick just blows my mind some days. I seriously am starting to think he's going to be a really good horse. I decided afterwards to give Zeke some turnout time in a bigger drylot and tied Maverick to the trailer. Maverick needs to learn how to stand tied for awhile.

And again, Maverick amazed me. He did go to pawing but that's his thing. But he also made me double over in laughter. He's got this weird habit where he will take the end of his nose and rub on stuff back and forth. So he put the end of his nose on the lead rope and fiddled with it. I think he was trying to figure out how to untie the knot. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. He was just too cute. And while he was standing at the trailer, playing with his leadrope I realized he's really not a bad looking horse. I always figured he was one of those "junk" horses. But standing there nice and square (and fat/healthy), he looked like a really nice horse.

Now if I could only find time to ride him every day. He would turn into an amazing horse if he had miles on him. The more I mess with him, the more I like him.

While Maverick was tied to the trailer, I let Zeke out. He walked around the pen sniffing out everything. Bob walked up to the barn but didn't bother to even notice Zeke. Zeke got excited and started tossing his head around. Sam came up to the barn after Bob and only gave Zeke a fleeting moments notice. Zeke of course started trotting around, tossing his head.

Zeke continued to investigate. He even got a good dust roll. When he noticed the other horses out in the pasture he started doing his arabian stance and loping around the pen. I'm betting it felt good for him to stretch his legs.

After a little while Chaos and King came up. That's when Zeke decided to get really "arabianish" on me! He trotted around the pen and tossed his head all the time. I decided that I better get him out of there. Luckily I'd left his halter on. He's going to be a tough one to catch. As long as he doesn't see the leadrope I should be able to catch him. Otherwise it's going to be a fight.

I need to get some pictures of Zeke. It may take awhile before he and I are on the same page. There's no bond yet but there wasn't really one with any of the horses the first week out. Today markes the first week of having Zeke with us. I hope that we can get a strong bond. I think he and I could have a lot of fun but I'm not sure how well he relates to humans. I don't think his previous owner did too much with him. I guess we'll just see how it goes.

It took an entire year for me to really like Maverick. And after yesterday, I'm really liking Maverick. Maybe I'll get brave and take him out of his small drylot and ride him in the bigger drylot. I'm sure he's bored with my little bit of riding. I think he's up for a bigger challenge.

So what type of riding patters, riding exercises should I do with him to get miles on him and get him used to different types of things? Any suggestions?